Terri McGreggor: my first love. What a girl: pretty, smart, and talented. I don't get why she got drunk that night. That was so…out of character for her. I bet Paige had something to do with it. No, Paige isn't that cruel. Terri made the mistake. But I'm glad she learned her lesson.

Hey girl, you know you drive me crazy
One look puts the rhythm in my hand.

I never understood what she saw in me. We were friends for quite a while. She was better than me, end of story. I knew she liked me, but getting drunk was such a turn off. Even though I got older and did that same- but that's another story.

Still I'll never understand why you hang around
I see what's going down.

Rick Murray, her first boyfriend: weird, controlling, and evil. She did a good job of hiding what he did to her. Cuts, bruises, scrapes…he was an awful person to do that to her. And then, the way he would apologize. He knew just what to do to get her back: a dozen roses, a kiss, and a heartfelt apology in a soft and sweet voice.

Cover up with make up in the mirror
Tell yourself, it's never gonna happen again
You cry alone and then he swears he loves you.

I never could figure out why he did that to her. Did it make him feel stronger or superior or better? Had someone done it to him? Did he consider it a stress reliever like I considered playing drums? It didn't make sense to me or anyone else. I don't think it even made sense to him.

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?

We were so proud of her the day she said good-bye to him. He was out of her life, and out of ours. Terri deserved so much better. He deserved so much less.


Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

After she broke up with him, he still stalked her. Me and Jimmy would catch him watching our group at lunch, or looking around the corner at her while she was exchanging books for her next classes at her locker. And then he would see us. And he knew we meant business: if he so much as thought about her, he would regret ever coming to Degrassi.

A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect
Every action in this world will bear a consequence
If you wade around forever you will surely drown
I see what's going down.

I decided to confront him one day. "What do you want?" "Why would you do that to her? She never did anything to you." "I didn't do anything wrong!" "Yes you did, Rick! You hit her. You hit Terri." "I did nothing wrong." He said plainly and walked away.

I see the way you go and say you're right again,
Say you're right again
Heed my lecture

I tried so hard to figure it out. I spent countless hours putting myself in his shoes trying to figure out what would fuel me to hit my girlfriend. Just the thought made me shudder and feel weak.

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?

I confronted Rick again when I caught him staring at her. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and snapped out of his daze when he noticed who it was. "I…I was just…" "Listen, Rick. She's done with you. She has a new life. Stay away from her." I walked away. I wasn't going to argue with him about this.

Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

A month or two passed with no sign of Rick. Then it happened. They were back together. No one knew why. They refused to let him come camping with us. For the first time, I said something intelligent. If we told Rick he couldn't go, Terri would stay. Then we wouldn't be able to look out for her. The rest is history: awful history. Paige got into a fight with Rick. Rick ran off and Terri followed. I don't know why I didn't follow, but it was stupid of me not to. Paige and I went to check on them, and she was bleeding…from the head.

Face down in the dirt, she said, this doesn't hurt, she said, I finally had enough.

I always hoped before that incident, Terri would tell Rick herself that she was done with him. I knew she would someday, but she just didn't. If she told him, he would've listened. Me and Jimmy would've gone with her so that he couldn't touch her. But she didn't do it. I think she was scared. We would've protected her though. I would've protected her.

One day she will tell you that she has had enough
It's coming round again.

I still think about Rick, even though he's dead. I still try and figure out how a human being could do that to another. He was messed up in the head. Maybe if we told him to see a counselor or something…the shooting wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't be dead, Jimmy wouldn't be paralyzed, Sean wouldn't be in Wasaga, and I wouldn't be an outcast. I don't think I'll ever understand anything Rick did.

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

I still talk to Terri from time to time. She knows about my role in the shooting. She was the first to know and the first to forgive me. She knew I didn't mean any harm by it. Most of all, she knew it hurt me. That same day, she told me something I'll never forget. "I'll never associate myself with anyone like Rick ever again."

Face down in the dirt, she said, this doesn't hurt, she said, I finally had enough.